Hearing held regarding possible election law violations in Saline County
The hearing stemmed from the 2024 election when Searcy County is the only county in the state to use paper ballots.
Saline County seeing shortage of poll workers for next year's election
Four possible law violations were discussed. An election monitor from the State Board was in Searcy County during the election and then reported the possible violations to the State Board of Election Commissioners.
The first issue was a possible violation of a law that prohibits accepting something of value from an unapproved source.
The commissioners, Laura Gross, L.C. Ratchford and Ken Weekly, all testified they wanted transparency in the paper ballot counting process.
Looking for video equipment to live stream counting, they ended up paying a company $100 to rent the equipment.
The counting lasted for hours, with several TVs and cameras, and people from the company were there.
The staff from the state board argued in the hearing that this was a donation, considering the minimum wage in Arkansas, coupled with the company's employees being there for hours, as well as the equipment rental itself.
Commissioners then discussed the low price of the equipment, and after testimony, voted to give the commissioners a letter of reprimand.
The next issue that the Searcy County election commissioners were found to have violated was not posting the list of election officials eight days before election day. Testimony showed they did post the list, but some additions and subtractions were not posted.
Two more issues were dismissed.
Saline County ranks highest in Arkansas for 2024 voter turnout
Some members of the board believed there was no bad intent to violate the law; therefore, only giving a letter of reprimand for the first two issues, rather than decertifying.
In June, the board offered a settlement of the issue, which included a letter of reprimand and decertification of the commissioners for seven election cycles.
The Searcy County Commissioners opted for a hearing. They were given the two letters of reprimand and were not decertified.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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